Parents React to Volunteer Coach Charged With Sex Crimes

Police tells us a volunteer coach has been charged with a sexual crime against an East Ridge High School student.

Now some parents are asking questions about the role models in their kid's lives.

At three years old Deborah Gonzalez is ready to take on the world, but right now her mom is not as keen.

"It's devastating and it causes parents to have nightmares and ulcers and it's just devastating," Shannon Gonzalez says.

Gonzalez's devastation comes after East Ridge Police say they arrested East Ridge High School volunteer cheerleading coach Hunter Huling, charging him with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure.

Records show Huling was arrested after engaging in sexual intercourse with a fifteen year old male student this past summer. Court documents state Huling was an East Ridge cheerleading coach at the time, but police say the alleged incidents did not happen on campus.

"I would just encourage parents to be very involved in their kids lives. Go to their schools, get to know their coaches, get to know their friends," Officer Erik Hopkins says.

Hopkins tells us the sex between Huling and the minor was consensual. But records show the school resource officer filed a complaint after Huling continued to harass the victim.

On Friday we stopped by Huling's house to try to get his side of the story.

"We have no comment," a woman who answered the door says.

But we did find a number of comments on Huling's Myspace page. The first line says "I'm a fighter who is gay, sexy, dangerous."  

Now Gonzalez worries about the dangers her daughter may encounter down the road.
 
"It really makes me not want to put her in a public school or a school at all because you're scared who is going to be around your children because there's monsters everywhere and they prey on innocent kids," Gonzalez says.

On Friday we called East Ridge High School Principal Ron Peck and stopped by the school but could not reach him for a comment. We did speak with school spokesperson Danielle Clark. She says they have no documentation showing that Huling was ever a volunteer coach. She says instead he was an "external advisor for the team."

Follow Will Carr on Twitter @ carrwill